


Four Times Nathan and Duke Didn't Kiss Under the Mistletoe and One Time They Did

by dr_ducktator



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-17
Updated: 2011-12-17
Packaged: 2017-10-27 10:48:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/294978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dr_ducktator/pseuds/dr_ducktator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>4 little stories where Nathan and Duke don't get to kiss under the mistletoe, and one little story where they finally do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Four Times Nathan and Duke Didn't Kiss Under the Mistletoe and One Time They Did

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wishtheworst](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wishtheworst/gifts).



> I wrote this as a birthday present for my beloved wishtheworst. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BB! I love you! Also, this is based on all kinds of head canon. And there's a sort of spoiler for the Haven Christmas episode. Unbetaed, so all mistakes are mine. Merry Christmas, everyone!

They were in 4th grade. They’d inexplicably gotten past the incident with the tacks and had become friends; possibly because Duke felt drawn to Nathan and Nathan was the only one who could tolerate Duke’s incessant chatter. Nathan just tuned him out, mostly, but it was nice to have a friend.

They were in the middle of their class Christmas party; it was loud and chaotic, and it took a moment for Nathan to realize he’d somehow been shoved under some shitty plastic mistletoe on the bulletin board. It took another moment to realize the mean kids in class – Duke’s old friends – were shoving Duke toward where Nathan stood, shouting “Kiss your boyfriend, Crocker!” Nathan jumped up and ran out of class, but he could swear he saw a look of disappointment flit across Duke’s face. Nathan chalked the look up to Duke being disappointed that Nathan hadn’t stayed to help his friend out of a potentially bad situation with the class bullies. __________________________________________________________

It was winter homecoming, and with winter homecoming came the winter homecoming dance. Nathan was wearing a simple white shirt, black tie, and dress pants, while his date wore some blue crushed-velvet dress; she told him that was the style that was “in”. He rolled his eyes.

The plan was to meet Duke and his date behind this old shed before the dance so they could drink out of Duke’s dad’s flask before the dance. Nathan and his date waited but Duke never showed; Nathan was simultaneously annoyed and worried. Leave it to Duke to flake out.

Nathan resigned himself to a night of sober dance-attending, and focused instead on how far he could get with his date at the end of the night. They walked into the dance and Nathan sighed audibly. The gymnasium looked like Christmas had thrown up. There was tinsel, twinkle lights, shiny garland, and mistletoe everywhere. Gross.

Nathan saw Duke over at the punchbowl. He walked over with a plan to confront him on his lack of follow-through on the pre-dance plan. Just as he was about to open his mouth to bitch at Duke he was stopped dead by the look Duke was giving him. The only word to describe it was smoldering, and Nathan felt it down to his toes.

The feeling wasn’t new; Duke often looked at Nathan like that, and it occurred more frequently as of late. Nathan wanted nothing more than to shove Duke up against the wall under the mistletoe that was hanging roughly 3 feet to Duke’s left and kiss him breathless, but instead he turned on his heel and got the fuck out of there. His date never saw him the rest of the evening.

__________________________________________________________

They were 18. Duke was making money through a variety of shady operations and Nathan had been away at college. It was December and finals had ended so Nathan would be returning to Haven for the winter break. Duke had been running around trying to find Nathan the perfect Christmas present. The friendship that had started because Nathan had no one and Duke lost his old friends after keeping them from doing something potentially fatal to Nathan was now genuine; the stuff from the past had been left in the past – for the most part, anyway.

So Duke searched high and low for the perfect gift. He’d decided on getting Nathan a cashmere sweater; the softness of the material drew him in, and the shade of blue would match Nathan’s eyes. Nathan’s trouble had receded, but no one knew if or when it would come back and he wanted Nathan to feel as much as he could for as long as he could. He wanted Nathan wrapped up in warmth, he wanted Nathan safe. And if he were to be totally honest with himself, he simply wanted Nathan. He was beginning to think Nathan felt the same way about him, too.

He knew Nathan would be home around 6 that evening and the Chief would be working late, so he planted himself on the porch of the house where Nathan and the Chief lived. He had a plan: in one hand he had the present he’d wrapped, in the other a sprig of mistletoe; when Nathan walked up on the porch he’d say hello, hand him the gift, hold up the mistletoe, and kiss him. Depending on Nathan’s reaction, Duke would know where they stood.

He was sitting on the darkened porch for about ten minutes when Nathan walked up.

“Hey, Nathan,” Duke said, smiling as he stood up.

“Duke,” Nathan said with a fond smile of his own.

“Merry Christmas.” He shoved the gift at Nathan. “I know it’s early, but you know me, I’m terrible at waiting to give presents.”

Nathan took the gift. “Thank you. Yours is in my bag.” He glanced at Duke’s other hand. “What’s that?” he asked, nodding toward the mistletoe.

“Oh. Um.” Duke fumbled to find words that wouldn’t come. Instead, he held the mistletoe over their heads. “It’s tradition, right? You have to kiss whoever you’re with under the mistletoe.” Duke waited for the “Fuck you” or “What the fuck are you talking about?” to come from Nathan, but instead he got a soft smile and a “Yeah, that is the tradition, Duke. And who are we if not traditional?”

Nathan looked beautiful all the time. Duke found it unnerving, actually. But now, on the darkened porch with frozen breath quickening, leaning in to kiss Duke, Nathan looked angelic. Duke didn’t think the moment could get any better. He couldn’t wait to feel Nathan’s lips.

He couldn’t believe the goddamn motherfucking porch light came on. Looks like the Chief was home, after all. _______________________________________________________________

The whole town had gone to hell. Again. As usual. But neither Duke nor Nathan could remember what happened. They’d asked Audrey, but she wasn’t telling; she just told them she wanted to celebrate Christmas.

She’d hung mistletoe in her apartment. Of course she did. What’s a Christmas party without mistletoe?

Nathan thought he was probably cursed over and above his trouble: with Christmas came mistletoe, and that shit never failed to find him.

And all of a sudden there he was, under the mistletoe, face-to-face with Duke. Their eyes met and they turned away immediately, getting out from under the stupid sprig as quickly as possible. But Nathan saw it in Duke’s eyes – he remembered Boston, too. ________________________________________________________________

It happened in Boston. They were there together. Like, together-together. Nathan’s trouble hadn’t yet returned, they were in love, and life was good.

It was New Year’s Eve. Nathan came home from the store to find Duke cooking something that smelled amazing. Their apartment was still decked in Christmas décor. The one thing that was missing was mistletoe. Nathan had made it a rule that they not have any because he hated the shit – bad memories and all that.

Nathan set the groceries on the counter. Duke walked over to him, saying nothing, hands hidden behind his back.

“Pick one,” Duke said, shrugging his shoulders to indicate he wanted Nathan to pick a hand.

Nathan pointed to Duke’s right hand.

“Shit,” Duke said.

“What?”

“You were supposed to pick the left one.”

“You were supposed to switch whatever you’re hiding to the hand I picked, genius,” Nathan said, a crooked smile on his face.

“Fine. Here, look.” Duke swung his arm around and held what was in his hand over their heads. Nathan looked up and saw the mistletoe. He felt a rush of annoyance. But he also felt a rush of excitement. With all his mistletoe-hating bravado, he really, _really_ wanted to kiss Duke under the mistletoe. He’d always wanted to. All of those fucking missed opportunities all those years.

He grabbed Duke’s shirt in his fist and hauled him in, their chests flush. Duke smiled. And finally, _finally_ , Nathan kissed Duke under the mistletoe. And it was perfect. Warm, soft, and full of promise. Nathan knew he’d never forget that kiss. And he knew that, even if his trouble returned, if he never got to feel another thing ever again, it would be this kiss that he’d feel the rest of his life.


End file.
